


I am so much more than royal (Author Commentary)

by ViolettaValery



Series: Victory's Contagious [4]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Author Commentary, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 01:41:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20074030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViolettaValery/pseuds/ViolettaValery
Summary: What it says on the tin: the "director's commentary" of the fic, with all the reasoning, references, and everything that was going through my head as I was writing.





	I am so much more than royal (Author Commentary)

_The U.S. military is made up of absolute geniuses, which is why, when SETI’s sensors detect an unidentified object hurtling toward Earth, they start shooting immediately. But everything they aim at it, missiles included, bounces off like so many rubber balls. _

> Yes, I stole this directly from the first scene of _Independence Day. _

_That’s how an actual honest-to-god extraterrestrial object lands in Bumfuck, Nowhere, United States of America. (Not Roswell, which leaves Alex with a twisted sort of satisfaction). There isn’t so much as a dent in its glowing, purple-pink metal. If it even is metal. _

> Listen, I grew up in the Midwest, I’m allowed to make fun of it by calling it bumfuck, nowhere.

_The military has mobilized a battalion of soldiers in the minutes it takes to land, and they surround it, ready to fire. Alex watches from a hastily-erected command center as the spaceship opens its doors. But instead of soldiers (drones? Clone warriors? All the science fiction he’s ever seen vies for attention in his mind, and he has to force himself to concentrate) pouring out, only one man steps down. _

> You have no idea how much time I spent trying to figure out the logistics of this and why Alex is there along with all the other soldiers until I just went “fuck it” and left it vague. Mobile command center? Honestly in reality they’d probably be watching a video feed from somewhere more secure but WHO CARES. There’s Dramatic Moments to be had.

_He’s tall and lanky, a mess of curls atop his head and a wicked smile on his lips as he surveys the muddy terrain. His all-black clothes sit tight on his body while a regal cape flows behind him as he descends, like every bad sci-fi movie Alex has ever seen. _

_He can’t deny it’s effective. Half of every empire is symbolism, after all. _

_The command comes to fire at will and the soldiers start shooting, but each bullet stops inches from the alien as if hitting a glass wall, dropping harmlessly to the ground. _

> Can Michael canonically stop bullets with his power? I have no idea. Does every other fanfic writer basically steal from the Matrix to have him do so? Absolutely.

_Above him, thunder growls and the heavens open into a downpour. _

_Alex blinks. The sky had been clear minutes ago. _

_Through the pouring rain, he watches as the alien turns his face to the sky, lifting a hand. Like a lightning rod, he seems to summon the lightning to him. But instead of striking him down, it appears to charge him like a battery. _

> If you’re wondering whether I stole this scene from 1x13, I absolutely did. If Max gets a dramatic Thor moment, so does Michael. This is actually one of the first scenes that came to me: Michael harnessing the elements like some kind of god, ethereal and inhuman, and Alex is smitten.

_Alex knows there is no magic to it. Those things that seem like magic always have scientific explanations. The alien had doubtless introduced some kind of agent into their atmosphere, a change in pressure and other conditions to affect the local weather patterns. _

_Still, against the darkened sky, he looks like some pagan god, impervious to the elements that dampen his curls and the wind that ripples through his cloak. _

_Alex has never seen anything so beautiful. _

_His battery seemingly charged, the alien turns his gaze back to them and raises a hand again, and the soldiers fall like dominos as a shockwave ripples through the air from him. Alex is spared only by the distance. _

_As if drawn by some undeniable magnetic force, he leaves behind the relative safety of their command center and walks forward among the scattered bodies. “Manes!” he hears Colonel Sumner roaring behind him. “Get back here now!” _

> Yes, I stole Colonel Sumner from Stargate. He’s an asshole who dies in the first episode, so he seemed like an appropriate choice.

_He ignores it. The chain of command seems painfully irrelevant right now. _

_The alien turns his eyes to Alex and watches him approach. Once Alex is several feet away, the alien approaches to close the distance between them, and Alex stands his ground. _

_It occurs to him that this is the long-awaited, momentous instant of first contact. _

> Did I cut a line from here in which Alex has opinions about this particular first contact not involving a Vulcan makeout? Yes, I did.

_He doesn’t give a shit about properly representing humanity, but he still masks the fear that churns inside him with an impassive façade, because everything inside him balks at revealing it. _

_The alien cocks his head, taking in Alex’s drenched figure, the challenge in his stance. _

_“Don’t you bow to your gods?” he asks, his voice carrying miraculously above the roar of the wind and the pounding rain. _

_“You are no god,” Alex tells him. _

_The alien smiles at him, genuine amusement lighting up his eyes. _

_“Oh, but I am, in every way that matters.” The alien reaches for him, and Alex forces himself to remain immobile and impassive. But the alien only brushes a thumb over his cheekbone, and with that swift touch, a fire long dormant inside Alex flares to life. “Soon you will know it, and kneel.” _

> Is this fire coming to life the beginning of some kind of soulbond between them that they only come to realize later? Is it Michael bringing to life some part of Alex that he’s denied and repressed until this moment? Am I just being an over-dramatic narrator? You decide. I left it vague on purpose.

_Alex raises an unimpressed eyebrow, because no man has ever made him kneel, not like that, and no alien ever will, either. _

> If you pay close attention, you’ll notice that at no point in this fic does Alex ever kneel, to give a blowjob or for any other reason. Michael, however, _does _kneel…while Alex is sitting on a throne. I thought it was a fitting thing to include, but that requires paying careful attention to notice. Hopefully at least some readers remarked on it! It’s my favorite little “easter egg.”

_“Why are you here?” he demands. _

_“Why, to conquer this planet, of course,” the alien says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. _

_“Yes, but why? I’m sure there’s much more appealing targets than this backwards hunk of rock. What do you want? Resources? Fealty?” _

_The alien shrugs, the gesture so insouciant, so human, and fixes Alex with a predatory, hungry look. _

_“Why conquer anything?” he asks. “Now go on. Go tell the other humans what you have seen. Decide on the terms of your surrender.” His mouth quirks in a small, cocky smile. “Maybe I’ll grant some of them if you’re the one who delivers them.” _

> (lolol I too have no idea why Antar is conquering planets. Did I mention I threw this fic together on a women and don’t actually have a reason behind this alien conquest?)

_Alex crosses his arms on his chest, unmoving. _

_“And if we don’t surrender?” _

_The alien raises a careful eyebrow. _

_“Then I’ll make you.” _

_……._

_When Alex returns, his father launches straight into a spiel on the chain of command and obeying orders and running off half-cocked with no plan to meet the threat. There isn’t a word of concern in all of it, though Alex has long ago stopped expecting it. _

_He’s cut off by Colonel Sumner. _

_“Well? What the hell do they want?” he demands. _

_“Surrender.” _

_“Unacceptable.” Jesse Manes’ voice is cold and furious. “If these monsters think they can just come and take, and we will give up without a fight. For generations, my family has made it their legacy to protect humankind from creatures like these – “ _

_Alex tunes it out. He’s heard it before. _

_….._

_“Well?” the alien saunters in, late for his own negotiations. _

_Alex levels him with an unimpressed glare, while beside him, the rest of the brass sits up straighter. _

_“Oh,” he says when his eyes fall to Alex. “I knew you couldn’t stay away.” He winks. _

_They’d decided that Alex, as the only human who had succeeded at talking to the alien, should be here. Which seems like a good decision, as the alien looks just slightly pleased. Assuming alien facial expressions could be interpreted the same way as human ones._

_It’s Alex’s turn to raise a suggestive eyebrow. _

_“Missed me?” he asks, and pointedly ignores the glares both Sumner and his father send his way for entirely different reasons. _

> Look at Alex, playing along with the slightly smitten alien for the advantage it might give them. He’s not above using every single tool at his disposal to accomplish his goal. The rest of the military brass aren’t quite so…creative.

_“Terribly.” The alien’s voice drips with irony. He perches on the table they sit at, leaning forward brush a thumb across Alex’s cheek, an imitation of their first touch. “What’s your name, gorgeous?” _

> Of course Michael is absolutely smitten here. Who wouldn’t be? I _may _have been inspired by one of beamirang’s fics, in which an alien lands on Earth, is on the receiving end of Alex’s bitchface, falls immediately in love and basically kidnaps Alex and takes him to Antar.

_If Earth can be saved because some conquering alien doesn’t want to keep his dick in his pants, Alex thinks, then playing along is a small price to pay. _

> Also, I didn’t want Alex just going along with an alien’s unwanted attention “for the good of humanity” or something noble and self-sacrificing; I wanted it to be a more ruthless choice of “he seems to like me; this could be a pressure point. I will cultivate his attention in case it gives us an advantage later.”

_Besides, he doesn’t entirely mind the too-warm hand against his skin, or the way it feels like sparks course between them at the point of contact. _

_“Alex,” he answers. _

_“Alex,” the alien repeats. “I’m Michael, and I’m here to accept your surrender.” _

_Alex looks him head-on. _

_“You’re not getting it,” he says bluntly. _

_ “Oh, Alex,” Michael croons. “I am. It’s only a matter of when.” _

_….._

_Alex spends the next several months holed up in Cheyenne Mountain while the rest of humanity’s armed forces battle an alien armada. They lose more than they win, but occasionally, they manage to shoot down a spaceship or drone. That, combined with the remnants of the crashed ship retrieved in Roswell in 1947, allow Alex to get to work on doing what he does best. _

> More stealing from _Independence Day! _I actually watched the movie to help me write this fic and cracked up when they mentioned Roswell. In the movie, the remnants that were recovered from the Roswell crash help them take on the aliens by giving them access to alien tech; I combined that with the Manes family’s legacy of covering up the crash and protecting humanity to give Alex a means to take on this particular alien armada. And, of course, I went with Cheyenne Mountain because of Stargate. 

_First, he writes a code to crack the alien language, because apparently the preceding generations of his family had more brawn than brains and seventy years wasn’t enough for them to figure it out. Then, he sets to work figuring out the complex systems of their ships and writing a virus to take them down. _

> Also, OG Alex could read/write the Antarian language, so I thought this was a nice little nod. And I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to take a shot at the Manes family having more brawns than brain (except for Alex, of course).

_Several floors above him, the best generals the United States military has to offer bicker over tactics in a conference room. They’d wanted Alex in there too for his combination of tactical expertise, rank, and family legacy. But he knows that the only possible victory in this war won’t come with force, and they’d seen sense on that score, at least, leaving Alex to his coding. _

> Alex doesn’t want to argue with dumbass generals about tactics, okay; he just wants to be left to hack alien ships in peace.

_It’s a daunting task, because alien technology is as advanced as it is, well, alien, but Alex has never met a challenge he refused. _

_And sometimes, when he feels stuck at a dead end, he dreams about putting an impressed look on Michael’s face when he takes down his ship’s defenses and brings a fleet to its knees. _

_He works away at it as Michael takes over continent after continent. He never shoots down the news drones, but blows kisses at them instead. Alex watches from his monitors as Michael sends him kisses from the top of the Eiffel Tower, the ruins of the White House, the Brooklyn Bridge, the rubble of Buckingham Palace, and Moscow’s Red Square living up to its name, covered in rivers of blood. _

> They have a bit of a _Killing Eve_ thing going here!

_….._

_Michael finds the time to call him up in the midst of his campaign through Western Europe. _

_“Where’re you from?” Michael asks, foregoing any form of greeting. _

_“If you’re looking for family to threaten, you won’t find any,” Alex tells him curtly. _

_“Nah, that’s not why I’m asking. Promise.” _

_“Roswell,” Alex answers, because there really is no one left there who cares about him, and the town itself can burn for all he cares. _

_The next day, alien armies easily take Roswell, New Mexico, and level the town square to erect a sun-temple in honor of Alex Manes. Those who value their lives are told not to flee, and the town that had sneered at Alex all his life bows to him as they pray it will earn them mercy. _

> This is one of the other bits that this fic first began with: I was chatting with beamirang and a few other Roswell peeps about how in a dark Malex AU where Michael’s conquering planets, he would absolutely build temples to Alex on all of them. And then this just kind of happened. The idea of making all the bigoted, homophobic Roswell natives who made fun of Alex his entire life kneel for him was just the cherry on top.

_…._

_Michael finds him again as half the planet lies in ruin, in between laying siege to New York and reducing Philadelphia to rubble. _

> So in case you didn’t know, I really, _really _dislike the city of Philadelphia. And now, I get to destroy it in a fic, which was deeply cathartic. I couldn’t bring myself to destroy New York, though, hence why it’s being laid siege too.

_“Hey, darlin’,” Michael greets him. _

> Michael calls Alex ‘darlin’ and you can pry this notion from my cold dead hands.

_“Michael,” he returns. He knows he should be afraid as Michael advances on him, but fear is the farthest thing from his mind as Michael backs him up against a wall and presses close. He trails kisses up Alex’s neck, and Alex lets his head fall back and sighs contentedly as Michael presses his lips to the skin behind his ear. _

> Fear? What is fear when you’ve got a hot alien who is absolutely smitten with you and you’re just utterly bored with your life? The _Killing Eve_ influences continue….

_“That was quite the victory today,” he murmurs while Michael nibbles gently at his earlobe, and feels Michael’s answering hum reverberate through his skin. “Pretty soon you’ll have the entire Eastern seaboard. Unless you decide DC is purely symbolic and push west instead – “ _

_Michael draws back and directs a piercing glare at him. _

_“Trying to seduce me into giving up intelligence, Alex?” he asks, mock offended. “And here I thought you liked me.” _

_Alex shrugs. “It was worth a try.” _

_Michael smirks and returns his attention to Alex’s neck, biting at the curve of it. _

_“You don’t have to fight me,” he offers, his breath hot against Alex’s skin. “Rule by my side instead.”_

_“Mmm,” is all he can manage as Michael’s mouth finds the hollow of his throat and he has to hold back a moan. “I’m not that easy, and you don’t want me to be.” _

> Alex playing hard-to-get (literally) is precisely what makes him so attractive to Michael. And I love the idea that they’re fucking by night while being actual enemies by day. Though the lines between that get blurry, since the war they’re on opposite sides of is a courtship of sorts…or perhaps a very twisted approach to dating. Because conventional, flowers-and-chocolates romance is boring, okay.

_Michael pulls back. “No?” His hand trails suggestively down Alex’s chest, over the planes of his stomach to cup his hardness. “Huh.” _

_Alex’s control snaps. _

_“Fuck me, damn it,” he demands. _

_Michael obliges. He rips Alex’s clothes off without ceremony, the buttons of his shirt scattering like pebbles over the floor, and takes him roughly against the wall. Halfway through, Alex realizes Michael is holding him up with the same miraculous power that had allowed him to level a battalion of soldiers with his mind. This, too, should frighten him, the way he hangs helplessly in the air as Michael thrusts into him, one hand pinning his wrists above his head while the other works his cock, but instead, it pulls his orgasm from him in a heady rush of power and helplessness. Michael continues to fuck into him until he cries out, raw and oversensitive, and comes inside him with an unabashed moan of pleasure. _

> There’s just something really hot to me when one partner is spent and finished and oversensitive and the other just keeps going and the first is happy to let him. There’s a certain kind of intimacy to it that I love.

_After, Michael carries him to the bed and deposits him on it almost gently. Alex is blissfully hazy when Michael murmurs “not DC” in his ear. “Mmm,” is all he manages in response while Michael runs a gentle hand over his cheek. It’s the gentlest touch he’s used today, Alex thinks blearily._

_The bed creaks as Michael rises, kneeling over him to steal a last, soft kiss. _

_ “See you on the other side, sweetheart.” _

_Alex wakes up from heated dreams with his cock hard and his skin flushed. It takes him a moment to realize that the waves of pleasure teasing at him come from a working vibrator in his ass. _

_He blinks again as understanding dawns. _

_“Fuck,” he breathes, looking around, but his quarters are empty. Michael isn’t here. _

_His leg aches, too; he’d been too sleepy and well fucked last night to think of removing it, and of course Michael hadn’t known. He sits up to take it off and has to bite back a moan when it causes the vibrator to shift inside him. _

_He scrambles to remove his leg, gritting his teeth through the waves of pleasure until he can find the pin and detach the limb. _

_As he falls back onto the bed and reaches for his cock, it occurs to him that he doesn’t have to hold back his moans in the empty quarters. He brings himself off twice before the vibrations cease, either the end of the toy’s battery life or some kind of signal from Michael. _

_The latter might be a security risk, or at the very least something worth investigating, he thinks blearily as he stumbles to the shower to clean off the come and sweat coating his body. _

> Given alien tech, Michael probably has access to much longer-lasting batteries, if it is batteries. Or if he is controlling the vibrator via remote control, how does his signal get into a bunker below a mountain? I have no idea. Yes, these are the little logistical things I rip my hair out about, then decide to just completely handwave. If you didn’t give either of those things a second thought, good for you; I’m just …Like That.

_He leaves the vibrator in when he dresses for work that day. It remains still and quiet, but still feels it inside him every time he shifts in his chair as he attempts to parse code. _

_On the wall above his monitor, a map tracks Michael’s advances across the planet. Alex isn’t on the front lines anymore, and it all attains the elegance of a game of Risk, the simplicity of strategy and the neatness of numbers. _

_Kyle calls from the battlefield that day. Michael had indeed pushed west, foregoing DC entirely, though Alex’s forewarning had failed to do them any good. Kyle looks haggard, covered in blood as he describes the horrors of the injuries he’s had to treat. Alex nods and tries to commiserate while shifting in his chair, feeling the plug press against his prostate as he gazes at the map of Michael’s conquests. _

_…._

_Michael’s hail comes as Alex watches a timer count down the minutes until his virus burrows irretrievably inside the systems of Michael’s ship and gives Alex control of it. The alien fleet had hijacked Earth’s satellites to communicate, and that had allowed him to introduce the virus he’s spent months perfecting. Their last hail Mary as the alien armada prepares for a final, decisive battle in the sky above them. _

> If you think I stole this bit of plot from _Independence Day, _you are absolutely correct. The original version had Alex somehow hacking into Michael’s ship, but that stretched credulity even for me.

_Behind him, Sumner (promoted to general for lack of anyone more qualified), his father (because apparently a family legacy of hunting aliens makes up for rank and respect these days), and the small handful of generals left standing stare at the screens in the bunker below Cheyenne Mountain like their lives depend on it, because they do. _

_“Hey, Alex,” Michael drawls, sounding not in the least bit concerned. Alex can just imagine him, leaning suggestively against a control panel on the ship’s bridge, a seemingly disinterested gaze on the viewscreen. _

_Keep him talking, Sumner mouths at him. _

_“Michael.” _

_“This is gonna get messy. You sure you don’t wanna rethink your decision about surrendering?” _

_Alex watches the timer coolly. A minute left. _

_“Are the puny humans putting up more of a fight than you expected? You need me to go easy to save your delicate pride?” _

_Michael laughs, warm and amused, and Alex feels a mirroring warmth spread through him. _

_“You never go easy on me, darlin’. That’s why I like you.” _

_Forty-five seconds. _

_“I know what you’re doing, by the way,” Michael says, and Alex’s heart skips a beat. “Ingenious. I probably have, what, thirty seconds?” _

_Twenty-five. _

_“’Course,” Michael drawls, sounding unfazed by the impending threat. “You could just….not.” _

_“Give me one good reason,” he says, because he has to keep Michael talking, and it doesn’t matter what he says. It doesn’t. _

_“Because I’ll give you the world. Hell, you can have a whole solar system, if you’d like. You can even rule this hunk of rock if it strikes your fancy.” _

_“And I’m sure that’s not a desperate lie because I’m practically through your defenses,” Alex retorts, even as temptation gnaws at him. _

_“I’ll prove it,” Michael says, and the countdown falls from fifteen seconds to zero. Suddenly, Alex has access to the ship’s systems. _

_Michael’s ship. _

_“Choose wisely, sweetheart.” _

_Alex’s hand hovers over the keyboard. His virus is a delicate set of commands that starts at the peripheral systems to create a cascading series of failures until the ship’s core detonates. All he has to do is press one key. _

> In this moment, Michael is completely in Alex’s power. Or _is _he? Does he have a backup plan? Or is his seduction of Alex his plan to begin with? Is speaking to that part of Alex that no one else has been able to bring to life the ace in his sleeve, the one that ensures that Alex won’t pull the trigger?
> 
> Well…that’s up to your interpretation. Arguments and textual support could be found for each of those readings, and I’m really excited to have pulled off a fic that’s conducive to the kind of interpretation and meta that fandom excels at. At least, I hope I have!

_Behind him, the room is frozen, all eyes fixed on his hand hovering above the keyboard. It occurs to Alex that he holds the fate of humanity in his hand in that moment. _

_That knowledge intoxicates him. _

_“You took an oath, Alex. All enemies, foreign and domestic,” his father reminds him. _

_He leans forward and presses a key. _

> I doubt this was very suspenseful; I’m sure y’all knew exactly what Alex was going to choose. But I’m chronically incapable of passing up an opportunity to be dramatic.

_….._

_Michael finds him locked inside an empty room in the bunker several hours later. _

_He’d broken the connection between their computers and Michael’s ship and deleted the virus. After the room had unfrozen from shock, he’d been promptly arrested and relieved of his service weapon. _

_He hadn’t bothered resisting. _

> Alex knows Michael is coming for him. Why waste effort uselessly resisting when your alien lover will destroy them all in a few hours anyway?

_They’d almost left his leg, too, because he’s gotten good enough on his prosthetic that most people didn’t even know he had one. Until his father had pointed out that he was too dangerous to be allowed mobility, even unarmed. _

_The walls shake in prelude to Michael’s arrival, and the door blows off its hinges and goes flying. Michael stands in the doorway looking like nothing other than an avenging angel. _

> When they first met, Michael reminded Alex of a pagan god. Now, he resembles an avenging angel. He may be accomplishing his miraculous feats with science and technology, but it is still as breathtaking as myth and legend.

_“Why are you locked in here?” he demands. _

_“Well, I did, you know, commit treason.” _

_“Right,” Michael says, like he’s just now remembering that little detail. He offers Alex his prosthetic and waits patiently as he puts it on. The moment Alex rises, however, Michael shoves him against a wall and devours his lips in a kiss. “I meant it. You’ll rule by my side.” _

> This part is one of my favorites: Michael handing Alex his leg back in the same way he’d give him back, say, his phone or his sidearm. Just something that belongs to Alex and needs to be returned to him; no need to make it a Big Deal.

_Aboard his ship, Michael leads Alex to the enormous windows of the viewing deck and gestures at the planet with a dramatic flourish. _

> I’m not the only dramatic bisexual around here; Michael Guerin was born and will forever be one too.

_“Your domain, my prince.” _

_“Prince?” Alex asks. _

_“That’s what I am. Keep up, Alex. I said you’d rule beside me, didn’t I? Now come on, I’ll show you the throne.” _

_“You have a throne room on your spaceship?” Alex asks incredulously. _

_Michael just winks and leads him to a high-ceilinged room, dark and barren except for a throne of iron and steel. _

> I was kind of thinking of the Iron Throne from _Game of Thrones_ here, except not actually made of knives and swords you can cut yourself on, because that’s uncomfortable for fucking. (Though this version of Michael and Alex would probably still have sex on it).

_Alex raises an unimpressed eyebrow. “Only one?” he asks. _

> (He’s actually a little impressed. But he’s not going to show it).

_“We can rectify that,” Michael says easily. “I was hoping you’d say yes, but I didn’t want to assume.” _

_Alex pushes Michael back onto the sole throne, and he sprawls like he was born to sit on it. Which, he probably was. But he also makes no move to rise from where Alex has put him, spreading his legs and raising his eyebrows. _

> The idea of Michael sprawling on a throne like a ruler while simultaneously obediently staying where his boyfriend put him was catnip to me.

_Alex stalks forward and rests a knee between Michael’s legs as he leans in for a kiss. “Stay,” he instructs when he pulls away, and Michael does. _

_Alex strips slowly, letting his clothes pool on the floor as Michael’s heated gaze drags up and down his body. The throne is wide enough to accommodate them both, and Alex climbs easily onto Michael’s lap to straddle him. _

> This Alex is obviously a lot less self-conscious about his body and his leg.

_ “Lube?” he questions, and it zooms obediently into Michael’s hand. _

> Alien powers are really convenient for impromptu throne sex.

_“Get me ready,” he instructs, and Michael obliges. _

_“You’re bossy,” he remarks as his fingers work Alex open none too gently. “You’ll be a natural at ruling.” _

_“I think your mouth could be better occupied,” Alex retorts. _

_Michael hums in seeming agreement and leans forward to trail kisses up Alex’s neck as his fingers continue their work. His tongue licks, hot and sinful, at the hollow of his throat, and Alex lets his groans spill from him unabashedly. _

> Alex has really flowered into himself here and embraced living life to the fullest – including moaning as loudly as he wants, no thought given to shame or self-consciousness.

_When deems himself ready enough – or, rather, when he’s tired of the wait – he orders Michael to fuck him. _

_Michael’s hands grip his ass, bringing Alex down onto his cock while his hips thrust up, filling him, pistoning into him ruthlessly. Alex’s hand finds its way into Michael’s curls while the other works his own cock, just as quickly, almost as if they’re in a race as to who will finish first. He tightens his grip in Michael’s hair, dragging his head back, which forces Michael to let out a groan and thrust even harder, dragging in turn a cry from Alex. _

_“More,” he demands, because even with the way his hastily-prepared body turns the pleasure almost into pain, nothing is enough. He wants to feel everything he has denied himself for decades. _

_Michael grips him tighter, and his skin burns where Michael touches him, a heat that spreads through his entire body, lighting every nerve ending on fire. His pleasure doubles, ripping his orgasm through him, and his cry of pleasure echoes through the empty room as Michael’s thrusts continue unabated. He rests limply in Michael’s lap, moaning as Michael’s cock continues to drag in and out, mindless of the oversensitivity of Alex’s well-fucked body. Despite having climaxed, Alex feels his pleasure build a second time, and when Michael comes inside him, his cock attempts valiantly to harden and seek a second climax. But it’s too soon, and Alex lets out an unabashed, plaintive whine at the overstimulation. _

> My favorite sex trope returns again….

_Michael’s movements slow, though the rawness of a burn lingers where his hands still rest. He glances down and sees two shimmering handprints on his ass. Michael follows his gaze and Alex feels possessiveness course through him. _

> Yeah, Michael didn’t exactly ask for permission to leave the handprints, hence the ‘mildly dubious consent’ tag. But this is a darker, more thrill-seeking version of both Michael and Alex; they like being surprised and caught off guard by each other while keeping the sex itself consensual.

_Understanding hits him the next second. _

_Well, two could play this game. _

_“You couldn’t have marked me somewhere other people could see?” he asks, while inside his mind he paints a picture of himself walking naked through the halls of the ship, the other aliens ogling Alex’s body before their eyes discover Michael’s mark. _

> And besides, if Michael does something Alex wasn’t expecting, Alex can give as good as he gets. They like a little bit of tug-of-war in their relationship.

_The possessiveness surges again, a tsunami rather than a wave this time. _

_“You’re mine,” Michael growls. _

_In the end, they abandon his clothes and Michael wraps him in his cloak for the short walk to his quarters. They are almost as spacious as the throne room, and Alex settles heavily in the first plush chair he sees, the exhaustion of the day – and the sex- weighing him down. _

_He reaches for his prosthetic, but Michael gets there first; Alex blinks and the next second, Michael is on his knees before him. “Let me,” he offers. “It must be hurting by now.” _

_“How did you know?” _

_Michael gives a small shrug as he presses the pin and removes Alex’s leg. “Our prosthetic limbs aren’t so different.” _

_“Hang on,” he says, and Michael pauses where he’s begun massaging Alex’s stump. “That night. Why didn’t you take it off?” _

_“Didn’t think you’d want me to,” Michael answers, and Alex stares stupidly at him as he processes that Michael had refused to leave him feeling vulnerable while also shoving a vibrator into his unconscious body. A smirk spreads over Michael’s expression as he watches realization dawn over Alex’s. _

_“You are an enigma,” Alex says, awed and intrigued all at once. _

_Michael rises onto his knees until they’re face to face. _

_“I’m even better than that, baby. I’m a paradox,” Michael says, and kisses him. _

> Muse has a song that includes the line “You’re something beautiful/a contradiction,” and that was entirely the inspiration for these few lines. Alex is drawn to Michael because he is a contradiction, and there is something thrilling and fascinating in loving someone made of such oppositions. You’re constantly surprised and it keeps life exciting, which is Alex wants. This Alex is a darker version of canon Alex who has dealt with his demons; he’s secure in himself and his own capabilities and that leaves him deeply _bored _until Michael comes along and keeps him on his toes while still respecting him in the ways that matter.

_He helps Alex to the shower, telekinetic force holding him up, and then back to the bed. Once there, Michael tugs him close and falls immediately into a deep sleep. Alex follows him promptly into blissful unconsciousness. _

_He wakes to the feel of heat on his chest. Opening his eyes, he sees Michael’s hand splayed over it, glowing red and shooting sparks. But when Alex shifts to face him, dislodging his hand, there’s no mark, only the raw redness of a sunburn. _

> Michael is possessive even in sleep. Who knows? Maybe he’ll completely cover Alex in handprints during a future round of marathon sex.

_Alex glances over at Michael’s face. He looks peaceful for a man who has just accepted an entire civilization’s surrender. Sprawled on his back and lost deeply in sleep, he is the very picture of defenselessness. _

_Before he can even question what he’s doing, Alex is sitting up and placing a hand over Michael’s throat. He squeezes and tastes the same intoxicating power he’d known in the bunker a day ago. _

_Michael comes awake with fluttering eyelashes and a smirk that turns immediately lascivious. _

_“Breathplay? I like it.” _

_Alex doesn’t let up the pressure. _

_“How did you know that I wouldn’t destroy you, when you took your defenses down?” He pauses, following the thread of a thought. “Did you know?” _

> If you think this is a reference to “if someone’s gonna destroy me, it might as well be you,” you are absolutely right. And, like the line referenced, this is about more than just viruses and alien armadas; this is about _them, _and about this moment of Alex holding Michael’s life in his hand (though Michael is hardly defenseless, given his powers).

_Something shoves him off, and the next second, Michael is atop him, their mouths pressed together in a kiss and a hand on his cock. “Guess that’s another mystery for you to solve,” Michael murmurs against his lips, and catches Alex’s moans with his mouth. _

> Or a mystery for the reader to debate.

_…._

_Roswell, New Mexico becomes the capital of the Antarian Empire’s newest colony, and Michael erects a throne room beside Alex’s temple. Their two thrones stand side by side, glittering hunks of pure gold. _

> Listen I have never in my life known how to be subtle and I’m not going to start now.

_They christen this throne, too; this time, it’s Alex sprawling as Michael kneels between his legs to suck him off. Alex can’t leave a handprint, but he comes all over Michael’s face, and it catches on Michael’s fluttering lashes and plush lips. “Mine,” he growls. _

_Michael doesn’t disagree. _

> So remember how at the beginning of the fic Alex was thinking how he’s never knelt for a man? This is your reminder that he still hasn’t…but Michael has.

**Author's Note:**

> And….this concludes my very first fic “DVD Commentary”! Thank you for reading, and please feel free to leave comments on my comments. I’m really curious as to whether my thoughts/intentions/twists align with how you as a reader interpreted or reacted to the fic.


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